sue117

I enjoyed you trip report, we were in a corner Neptune Suite a couple of decks below you in 5191. We got off the ship in Victoria and are now at home. I hope that you are able to enjoy you stay in Victoria before the weather changes, the first real winter storm from Alaska is coming in tonight and tomorrow. I guess it followed us domn from Alaska, we couldn't as for any better weather than what we had in Glacier Bay and Juneau.

 

Have a good trip home.

 

Gary

Is it wrong of me to wish that we had SOME sort of exciting weather while we were on board!?! lol

Hey, since you are from Victoria, what was going on downtown Victoria tonight? They had a bunch of the streets closed. :)

S

GLACIER BAY still Cont. I really wanted a nap. After being in the sun all day and the wind, I felt like I had spent the day on the beach, but I also hate napping, as usually it makes me feel worse. So I hung in there and we had dinner at 530 in the dining room. We had another different waiter tonight, but at least the whole dinner was faster than last night. So I was a trouble-maker tonight and totally threw my poor waiter off. I ordered off the kids menu again, which was the first thing that threw him. I wanted “pico” with my quesadillas and with my mac and cheese. I tried to explain what it was. I said “it’s like salsa, but not really. It has chopped tomatoes and onions in it. So out came hubby’s and dad’s appetizer, but not mine. Then out came their second course, but not mine. He kept saying “They are working on it”. Then out came their meals…and they were still “working on mine”. Lol FINALLY it came out. This is what happens when you order "out of the box" at dinner....your table mates get to eat and you don't! lol Below is the result of asking for "pico" and explaining it as "you know, tomatoes and onions chopped up". ha!! And to end this really long Glacier Bay post here are some more pics. One of my favorite things to do is to take pictures of ourselves in the reflection of the window on the balcony. They usually come out pretty good and you get the nice scenery in the background. This trip it seems like a lot of them are blurry, but here is one that I took. Try it out if you have a balcony in the future! Tomorrow is Juneau. We don't have a ton of time in the port, and hopefully we will be at a GOOD pier and not the one WAY at the end where it is a mile from the "city". I'm not holding my breath though. It seems that the last few Alaska cruises we have always been out there.

GLACIER BAY CONT again again

I have said that we saw some whales for the first time (out of 5 trips to Alaska). Here is one of the times we saw some whale snot...we didn't see much of the whale, but it was fun to see even this much of a whale!

We saw a seal swimming too!

And of course more boooooootiful scenery (pretend that is a whale in the middle of the picture instead of just a piece of ice and it's even MORE impressive!)

And me again taking photos.

GLACIER BAY CONT again

And ANOTHER obligatory pic in front of the glacier:

There were some seals sitting on the ice in front of the glaciers, they were way far away though, so the pics are the best. But here is a seal on the ice.

And more seals

This is about as good as I could do on the calving. I just wasn't quick enough on the shutter click.

More pretty-ness

Glacier Bay Cont.

I know, I know, everyone who has been to Alaska has seen numerous pics of the Glaciers and how pretty they are...but since I have you held hostage by reading my post, I'm going to torture you and show you more! ha!

Beautiful scenery:

And to prove that we DID see whales...here is the one that I think breached in the front of the ship (which of course we missed), but I did get a picture of the fluke as it went under.

More beautiful scenery

Ice and three little birds posing for my picture!

Another obligatory glacier picture with my dad and hubby

me on my perch again, waiting for the glacier to calve.

TUESDAY-GLACIER BAY

I’m glad that we are alternating sea day/port day because it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit today. We woke up around 7 and got ready for the day. I am really sore today. I didn’t think I would be, but after being jostled around on the zodiac yesterday my back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my stomach muscles hurt…I guess I am just getting OLD! Lol It could be that the beds are way softer than we are used to at home as well.

I went to the Neptune Lounge this morning and this is how the conversation with Michael went:

Michael: “Are you going to see the glaciers today?”

Me: “No” Pause. “In fact I’m going to keep my shades drawn all day just so I can’t see them.”

Michael: Blank stare

Me: “That’s why we got the wrap around balcony so we couldn’t see the glaciers”

Michael: (Finally getting my sarcasm) “ha ha ha”.

I think that he and his assistant aren’t sure what to make of me. Lol At least I keep them on their toes. I got a pre-breakfast bagel and went back to the room. We had breakfast at the Pinnacle. Yum. That is the one thing that I will miss when we aren’t in a N-suite. I really like being able to sit down and relax and eat breakfast. We had the same waiter as we did when we ate dinner here. I guess this is his first week back after 10 months off. He has been working for HA for about 20 years. He has a 4 year old daughter that he misses a ton (as well as 3 other kids-oldest is 16). He said that he has tried to stay home, but none of the things that he did “worked out” and since they needed the money he always seems to return to work for HA.

After breakfast we came back to the room to start the glacier viewing. The weather was a bit chilly, but not too bad, especially if we stayed out of the wind on the back side of the balcony. The weather today was PERFECT! The sun was out ALL day. In fact, it was kinda in our eyes all day! Ha. I saw more whales today than all the other 4 times that I have been to Alaska. We saw one whale during breakfast and 2 others on the way to the glaciers. I sat outside and tried to see other whales after the glaciers with no luck. We also saw birds (of course) and some seals. Overall it was a pretty good animal day.

Have I already posted the pic of the whale that we saw while at breakfast one morning? If not, here it is again:

This was, of course, Glacier Bay day and it was a PERFECT day. The sun was out all day and it was great. I wish that we could have seen more calving from the glaciers, but I really can't complain.

Here is dad and hubby relaxing on the balcony. Not the beautiful SUN and the sunglasses that are being worn. Also laugh at all the "electronics" on the table. ha!

me and hubby in front of the glacier.

Me in front of the glacier.

So the chairs on the balcony bother me. They are too short to be able to see OVER the railing when you are sitting there and they are too tall to be able to see UNDER the railing when you are sitting. So I made my "own" bar height chair. Yes, I know, I know. It's not very safe. BUT I could see over the railing and watch (in vain) for whales and I could see the glacier much better. So here is me on my wobbly bar-height balcony chair.

My dad sitting in front of the big glacier on our way out of the back end of the bay:

DAD'S REPORT for TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY:

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Last night, as the ship entered the unprotected waters of the Pacific, the seas were rough. The most comfortable position was prone in bed, and I took that position about 10:30, and promptly fell asleep.

The ship was, by then, in calm waters of Glacier Bay, near Willoughby Island, when I looked out of the window of the restaurant and saw two orca whales surface for air not far from the ship. What a treat!

The rest of the morning the ship made its way slowly up the bay. About 11:00 we arrived at the terminus of the Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers. The Grand Pacific was a dirty mound of grit and stone, and hardly recognizable as ice. I had to point it out to Pat. The Margerie was magnificent, white and blue, with some debris, of course. The captain positioned the ship so that the glacier was on the port side of the ship, so we watched and took pictures from the balcony of my suite. When the captain turned the ship, we moved over to Pat and Sue’s balcony. We saw ice calving off the glacier. We saw seals lounging on ice chunks in the water in front of the glacier. It was amazing.

The weather today, for this show, was magnificent. Cool, but bright blue skies, plenty of sunshine, no real wind to speak of. The captain told us on the ship’s intercom that we were “very, very lucky” to have such good weather.

As the ship left the Margerie, we decided, along with nearly everyone else on board, to have lunch. All the tables on the Lido Deck were full, so we got plates of lunch and brought them down to Pat and Sue’s suite and ate in their room.

Leaving Margerie, the captain turned the ship up the Johns Hopkins inlet to the terminus of the Johns Hopkins glacier. It, too, was magnificently beautiful. We lingered there for another long period of time, watching, taking more pictures. The guide commenting on the scenery called it one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. She was exaggerating, but it was indeed impressive.

On the way out of the Johns Hopkins inlet we passed the last of the glaciers on the day’s itinerary, the Lamplugh, also beautiful.

From there we made our way back down Glacier Bay. Pat took a nap. I took a nap. Sue stayed out on the balcony hoping, in vain it turned out, to see more whales.

For dinner we ate in the Vista Dining room. I ordered two shrimp cocktails, which consisted of several salad shrimp on beds of shredded lettuce. For the entrée I had a grilled New York strip steak with a knob of Blue cheese butter and herb-roasted potatoes. Sue had macaroni and cheese from the children’s menu, with a tomato and onion salsa that took the restaurant’s chefs a while to prepare, and her dinner wasn’t presented to her until Pat and I were nearly finished our entrées.

After dinner we retired to our separate suites. Pat and Sue watched some “Criminal Minds” shows on a DVD they brought with them. I watched “High Noon,” a DVD I brought with me.

Juneau is our next port of call, and not too far from Glacier Bay. We aren’t supposed to put into port until early tomorrow morning, so the ship is slowly turning circles in inland waterways this evening. As I type this, ship’s time is 10:50 p.m., and we are at 58°06.03’ N, 135°02.15’ W, on a course of 102° at 9.2 kts.

Half an hour later, we’re on a northerly course, 353°, at a slow speed of 8.8 kts.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Some time before I woke, we docked in Juneau. When my alarm clock woke me, I opened the binds to see: nothing! The fog was so thick I could barely see the balcony railing. I said a discouraging word.

I met Pat and Sue for breakfast in the Pinnacle restaurant, and as we ate we could see the fog dispersing. It actually turned out to be a clear and delightful day.

At about 9:00 we met the representative of the NorthStar Trekking company at the end of the gangplank, and were driven to their headquarters at the airport. I brought my heavy hiking shoes with me in the backpack, but they had boots of just the right size for me. We dressed in boots, overpants, harness, and jacket.

They loaded us on the helicopter, five us, and our pilot lifted off just about exactly 10:00. My first helicopter ride. We flew out of Juneau and up into the mountains where he landed on the Mendenhall Glacier. Waiting for us were our guides, Grace and Michaela. They fitted us out with crampons, helmets, and ice axes, and we were off trekking on the glacier. They took us up into an ice fall, demonstrated climbing techniques with crampons and ice axes, showed us some crevices, invited us to fill our water bottles with glacial water. We had a nice pleasant, easy walk across the ice.

Once again, we were treated with wonderful weather. It was bright, sunny, relatively warm, and no wind up on the glacier.

After an hour and a half, or more, of trekking, the helicopter returned, we loaded up, and flew back to the Juneau airport.

A few years ago Sue had commissioned a wooden carved sculpture of her dogs, and the artist now lives in Juneau. Susan Smith picked us up at the NorthStar parking lot and drove us out to her studio. She showed us a number of her carvings. A small one of a bear carved from a piece of cottonwood bark caught my eye. Ms. Smith sold it to me at a very reasonable price.

Sitting there, while Sue and Susan were chatting, I got to thinking about going through security back at the ship, and having to unpack my cellular telephone, which has to go through separately. I couldn’t find my cell phone! Pat called NorthStar, and they found it where I had left it – in the fanny pack they had provided us. They agreed to bring it back to the ship on the next van of trekkers to return. What a relief! Back at the ship, Pat was wonderful to volunteer to wait by the gangplank for the van to arrive with my cell phone.

Meanwhile, Sue and I got back on board, and got sandwiches and salads from the Lido Deck dining area, and a sandwich waiting for Pat.

It was a nice adventure today.

For dinner, I tried soft shell crab Pad Thai. It was all right. Pat and Sue went with the everyday menu New York strip steak.

After dinner, we went to the 10:00 show of the comedian, Derrick Cameron. I hadn’t seen him before on any late night variety shows, but he had some amusing observations about life on board cruise ships and the kinds of people who take the cruises.

At midnight we are on a southerly course (161°) at 55°50.51’ N and 134°27.26’ W at a speed of 18.0 kts.

Random Thought of the Day:

I haven’t thought much about the bathroom door on our past cruises, but the door in this cabin made me think about it. In the past the door has been stiff, but it still would close when opened and it would bang against the door jam in rough weather. Again, it wasn’t anything that I ever thought about in the past. Well the door in THIS cabin is TIGHT. By that I mean I have to PUSH it to open it. It doesn’t move once opened. There is no way that it will bang open and closed in rough weather. They have really tightened the screws in the mechanism. It definitely stays open when you open it. :)

More Random Thoughts:

Sunday (first sea day) it was VERY smelly out in the hallway outside our door. Smelled like a bar bathroom after the night was over. I think there were some bathroom issues in a room nearby us. Luckily the smell didn’t extend into our room though. And by the end of the day the hallway didn’t smell anymore.

I knew that all of you out there in Cruise Critic land would want me to test out the Jacuzzi tub and I didn’t want to let you down. So I forced myself to get in there one night and try it out. I used some regular shower gel and pushed the button…WHOOSH…immediate bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles. So yes, the Jacuzzi tub works just fine. :)

Regarding Neptune Lounge side bar goodies . . .

I don't see where Sue is saying "it's going fleet wide for any ships sailing Caribbean." :rolleyes: What did I miss - because I'm totally confused by reports this is going fleetwide.

And PLEASE don't take my words as gospel. I have no idea what the deal is with the sidebar and food. I just tried to have a conversation with the concierge. He knew that people weren't happy about it, as I'm sure others have discussed with him. He might have just been trying to "placate" me. Whether it is just on trips that leave out of the US because of "US" laws or not, I have no clue. That was just MY personal understanding of what he said. Who knows what the TRUE story really is.

It seems odd to ME that they would make this change on ONE ship and not on the others. I mean, really. What makes the W-dam different from the other ships? I have no idea. Maybe they are "trying it out". Maybe they are blaming the "US rules" for it and it's really just cut-backs. I have no idea. These are just MY interpretations of what he said. :)

I am going to continue my reports with our trip to Glacier Bay, but again, I have a ton of pics that I want to share, along with my comments, but I can't really do that justice on the internet on the ship. So if you bear with me I'll do that when I get back on shore and the "free" Internet.

In the meantime I will share some random thoughts with you.

I noticed at breakfast one morning in the Pinnacle Grill that there was a slight misspelling in the menu. Can you see it?It's not like I can point it out to the "non native English speakers". :)

Quick update before we leave Juneau... Weather was PERFECT!! We were parked in a huge fog bank this am and I was a bit worried but the weather cleared and it was sunny and beautiful all day! Perfect for our helicopter ride and glacier trek! We are waiting to leave and the wind has picked up but the day was beautiful. I'm a little bummed the stop was so short though. It seems on our last cruises the post stops have gotten shorter and shorter. We had no time to walk around today. Tomorrow is a sea day then we have all day in Victoria instead if jut a few hours to make up for missing Sitka. We decided to go on a whale tour. I'm sure it will be with 100 of our close and personal holland America friends. Ill post more later...with pictures.

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Continued...

here is another view of the seals WITH seagulls:

We also went right by the ship while we were tooling around on the zodiac:

Because we didn't see any wildlife I think Ash felt bad so he got desperate and showed us an eagle's nest...but no eagles. lol The nest is in the crock of the huge tree:

But again, we had fun driving/riding in the boat. There were only 7 of us on the trip. We are on vacation and NOT at work and we were having fun together. That’s what’s it’s all about.

We got back to the ship and Ash, our guide, had told us that in Ketchikan the tides would change 17 feet from low to high tide. When we got back to the ship and looked at the gangway, we saw that he was right! Holy cow! The ramp to get back to the ship was at a pretty serious angle! I’m not sure how anyone in a wheelchair was able to get up that thing. We saw a woman with a walker trying to get up it and she had to have some serious help.

Check out the angle of the gangway!

One other thing about our room that we have been dealing with is a serious odor. We noticed it the first day and it seems like it’s just gotten stronger. It’s almost overwhelming and it really has been affecting us. It’s not as noticeable when you have been in the room a while, but when you come back to the room after being gone it almost knocks you over when you get back. It’s the smell of freshly baked bread and it’s just torturous!!! Ha!! Seriously! I have no idea why the smell is so strong here on the 7th floor. I mean there are rooms below and above us. It smells sooooo good and it makes us soooooo hungry! It’s just mean. So for all of those of you who might have this room in the future. BEWARE! : )

We ate in the dining room tonight. It took forever and our dining room steward wasn’t very personable. I must admit that I like eating in the fixing dining better. We get to know the dining room stewards and it’s just more pleasant. Dinner took forever tonight. Not sure why. It took as long as it took us to eat in the Pinnacle. I had chicken nuggets from the kids menu for dinner tonight and they were luke warm and not very good. Oh well. That’s what I get for ordering off the kids menu I guess. They filled me up though so I can’t complain.

Tonight the entertainment was an illusionist, and we actually went to the show! Apparently this guy was on “American’s Got Talent” last season. He didn’t win, but they made it through like 6 shows and performed in NYC. He was good. Many of the acts her performed I had seen on a show that was on years ago where the magician showed how the tricks were done. So while I don’t know for SURE how he did a lot of what he did, I have a vague idea. That makes me happy. I hate not knowing that stuff! Lol One neat thing that he did was he brought a kid up on stage and sat him in a chair. He did some “tricks” with toilet paper, where he was talking to the kid, with a balled up piece of TP in his hand. While he distracted the kid he threw the TP over the kids shoulder to his assistant waiting with a big net to catch the TP. The kid never saw him throw the TP and so when the TP “disappeared” from the magician’s hand the kid was awestruck. Of course the audience could see what was happening the whole time. The “moral” of the story, as stated by the magician himself, was that while we all knew what was happening the kid didn’t and the kid had that feeling inside of being awestruck and that what magic was all about”.

MONDAY-KETCHIKAN

We got an extra hour of sleep last night thanks to the clocks going back. Of course we still woke up early. We went to breakfast with all the other hoards of people and were ready to get off the ship at 745 to meet our independent excursion people. My dad realized it was raining and wanted his rain hat, so he went back up the room to get it while we met the excursion lady.

She told us that since it was a “light” tourist day and we weren’t leaving until 330 that we could do the trip in the afternoon if we wanted. She said it was supposed to clear up. As it was coming down pretty good when she told us that we agreed and said we would see her again at the same place at 1145.

My dad arrived shortly thereafter and we told him about the change in plans. Of course he had no camera or money, so back up to his room he went. Lol We shopped around and ignored the people pedaling tours. Why are some soooo rude? Seriously? I know their business depends on people talking to them and agreeing to buy a tour, but when we didn’t say “hello” back to one woman she harassed us for about half a block “hello? Aren’t you even going to say hello? I’m talking to you. Hellooooooo”.

The sun came out today for about 4 minutes. Here is proof that it was out for a little bit today!

Annoying. We took some pics inside the stores and walked up to Creek Street. It was very smelly up there. Dead fish all over the grounds. There were some salmon in the stream, but not like when it’s real salmon season and they are packed in. The shops started opening around 9. We bought some souvenirs and made our way back to the ship area. By this time the Volendam was also in port so the shops were more crowded with people.

We decided that we would go back on board, off load our stuff that we bought and sit down for an hour or so. We met back up with my dad at 11 in the Lido to grab a light lunch before we headed out on our excursion.

So now it was time for us to go to our excursion. We went back to the gangplank at 1145 and headed down. We met the girl and off we went. We were doing a zodiac boat ride…where WE got to drive our own zodiac. My hubby drove, my dad sat in the back next to him and I was in the front. The company did a great job in outfitting us. We had wool socks to put on, a suspender pants/vest combo, a raincoat, waterproof boots, a wool bacavala hat, glove liners and rubber gloves. It seemed a bit like overkill, but it wasn’t. The weather was horrible. I’ll say it. It was cold and it rained for most of the trip. BUT it was still fun. The waves at one spot were killer and we were being bounced around a lot. I got soaked with sea spray coming over the front of the zodiac. We saw hardly ANY animals. I can just imagine what Ash, our guide, told his fellow guides when we got back in the privacy of the “back” room. Something like “Man, I tried to find an animal for them to see…ANY animal, with no luck. Lol He tried to go to the shore and find some starfish, with no luck. He couldn’t even find a STARFISH, a fish that sucks itself to a ROCK on the SHORE. HA! We did finally see some seals hanging around one rock, but that was it.

Here we are all decked out BEFORE going outside:

Here we are on the boat ready to go--We look like terrorists!!! ha!

I made my husband drive...here we are. It was raining the entire time! But we still had a good time even with very little sightings of anything interesting!

The only wildlife we saw....seals! And the Pacific Ocean on the other side of that rock was rockin' and rollin'. Thank goodness we stayed away from it for the most part. The part we DID have was enough!

NEPTUNE LOUNGE REPORT

Another tidbit of info that people might be interested in. I took pictures of the Neptune Lounge. I guess the “sidebar” is truly empty. When I asked Michael about it he said it had something to do with the USDA and how they wouldn’t allow it because of sanitary reasons. He DID say that it would/should be fleet wide. He also said that since it was a US thing that when the boat is in Europe that there should be food on the sidebar. He ALSO said that if there was something you wanted (chocolate, etc) to ask, that they have it there in a cabinet at the desk. I also was “complaining” (ok, I was joking, but sorta serious) that I didn’t like the fancy food and that I wanted Cheetos. He said that they HAD Cheetos and he could get them for me later! Lol. So I guess if there is something that you really want, just ask and they will get it for you.

On Tuesday morning I went in to get a “pre-breakfast snack” (yes, pathetic, but it is what it is! Lol). On the sideboard were mini boxes of cereal and bowls. The toaster was also hiding right there too because it seems that was where a convenient plug was. Michael immediately asked if I wanted “bread”. So they HAVE the bread, it’s just in the back room on a platter. So even though it’s not out on the sideboard it’s still available.

I forgot to take a pic this morning of breakfast, but I will sometime this week.

Here are pics in the afternoon in the lounge:

I have a ton of thoughts of things that have happened (nothing bad!), but I want to post pics and lots of pics, but it's hard to upload them and get them posted, so I might wait until I get home to put them all up with my comments. But so you don't get bored, I will post random thoughts here and there for your enjoyment. lol

Random Thought #1:

The cushions on our balcony were an issue. When we went to Hawaii last year the room stewards took them up each night, just in case, so they didn’t get wet overnight. Our cushions have stayed on the chairs on the balcony 24/7. So most of the time they are too soaked to get any use. Now, my dad’s room stewards have taken in some of the cushions each night, so if he wanted to sit on the balcony he would have a dry seat. So if you want to make sure that your cushions stay dry you might either ask your room steward to take them in each night or do it yourself.

Dad's First 2 days of reports. There isn't a lot of "this was good and this was bad", but more of a general review.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

A good portion of the day was spent waiting. After breakfast in the hotel, we waited until check-out time, and met in the lobby about 11:30. We took a taxi to Pier 91, and went through several lines, dropping off luggage, going through a security check, checking in at the ship’s clerk to receive identification cards, then lining up to board the ship. We made our way to the cabins, 7151 for Pat and Sue on the Holland (7th) deck, in the starboard aft corner of the ship, and I’m in 7142 in the port aft corner of the ship. Both cabins are identical (mirror image) suites and both have wrap around balconies facing out and aft.

We went to lunch on the Lido (9th) deck, and I had a roast beef and cheese sandwich on sour dough bread with a salad. After lunch, Pat and Sue took me on a walking tour of the ship, showing me the crow’s nest bar, the recreation deck, the dining areas, the casino, the amphitheater. We stopped in the Neptune Lounge on our deck and made dinner reservations for this evening at the Vista Dining Room and tomorrow, formal night in the Pinnacle Grille.

At about 3:00 we had an emergency life boat drill, which turned out to be rather informal. The alarm sounded, and I went to my station. Pat and Sue had told me that they would check all IDs to make sure everyone was in attendance. No one checked my ID. No one demanded to know if everyone from 7142 was in attendance. After a life vest demonstration, we were excused.

The ship pushed off from the dock at 4:05, and Pat, Sue and I watched from their balcony.

For the rest of the afternoon, I spent the time unpacking suitcases and the duffle bag, which had been unopened the entire seven-day drive to Seattle. I read for a while. I walked down to the Neptune Lounge and got a couple of cups of coffee. Returning from the lounge, I must have exited on the other side from which I entered. I turned in what I thought was the correct direction, and walked all the way to the front of the boat before turning around and walking all the way to the rear where our cabins are.

For dinner this evening in the Vista Dining Room I had prime rib of beef au jus; Pat had salmon; Sue had macaroni and cheese from the children’s menu.

After supper, we walked down to the casino to watch a bit of Texas Hold’Em poker played at an electronic table. It didn’t look very satisfying to me. It was not brick and mortar poker with real cards and clay chips. It looked like ten people playing computer poker, only they were seated around a common consol.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Some time during the night we exited the Straits of Juan de Fuca, passed Cape Flattery, and entered the Pacific Ocean. Overnight the seas increased to 7’ to 9’ waves, and the going was rough. I ordered orange juice and coffee for room service, which arrived at 8:00. At 8:30, I presented at Pat and Sue’s cabin to go to breakfast. Sue was woosey from the waves, and Pat had already been out to get her some Dramamine. I had some, too. Pat and I went to breakfast in the Pinnacle room, but Sue stayed in her cabin.

When I got back to my cabin suite, the ship was swaying enough, and I was feeling unsettled enough, that I lay back down on the bed. By then I had finally remembered that Dramamine, for me at least, has the side effect of extreme drowsiness. I slept until 1:00, or so, when Pat and Sue arrived to go to lunch. We went up to the Lido Deck for lunch; I had a roast beef sandwich and ice cream.

Back at the room, I was feeling better, and thought that I would read for a while. I read about three pages, then went back to bed and napped for most of the rest of the afternoon.

It was during this time, about 11:00 this morning, that the captain announced a change in the cruise’s plan. We are now NOT going to stop in Sitka. Instead, he turned the ship to make for the leeward side of Graham Island, and as the afternoon progressed, we got into much calmer seas, much to my relief. The plans now are to stop first, tomorrow, in Ketchikan, then spend a good portion of Tuesday circling in Glacier Bay. Wednesday we’ll be Juneau, but on an earlier than planned schedule. From there we were sail to Victoria, where we will spend almost a whole day, rather than the originally planned few hours. As a result of these changes, we (Sue) had to rearrange our excursions for Ketchikan and Juneau.

For dinner this evening, we dressed in formal attire and went to dinner in the Pinnacle Room at 8:00. We had a very nice dinner. I started with Dungeness crab cakes, and my entrée was medium rare King salmon. Pat had an enormous serving of Porterhouse steak. Sue had a filet Diane.

The day started off unsettled, I slept most of the morning and afternoon. Dinner was a resounding success. This evening, as I type, we are still on the leeward side of Graham Island approaching Prince Rupert Sound at 53°52.14’ N, 130°55.57’ W on a course of 351° at 13.5 kts, with trailing winds at 7 kts out of the southwest.

SUNDAY- At Sea

As expected the ship was rockin’ last night. I love sleeping when the ship is rolling like that though. We could hear all sorts of creaks and moans from the room though. Nothing horrible though.

So in our bathroom we have both a shower and a bathtub. They are separate from each other. Both hubby and I took a shower in the separate shower. It wasn’t a good experience! Lol The shower was tiny, the curtain was very long and covered the drain, and I thought the water in the bottom was going to slosh out of the bottom of the shower. I didn’t realize until I got OUT of the shower that there WAS a shower in the tub as well! HA! So from now on we’ll be taking a shower in the tub. Ha.

I wasn’t feeling great this morning. I wasn’t feeling barf sick, just off. So I hung out in the room while hubby and dad went to breakfast. My dad didn’t feel great himself, kinda like me. Not barf sick, just off. So after breakfast he just hung out in the room watching dvds that he brought.

I spent the morning on the balcony reading. It was cold, but I had on lots of layers and it was nice to get the fresh air. While sitting out there the captain came on and said that our schedule was completely changed. Monday instead of Juneau we are going to Ketchikan. Then we will go to Glacier Bay as planned. Then we will skip Sitka and go to Juneau on Wed instead of Mon. Then we will head down to Victoria and be there longer than planned before.

I emailed our independent excursion in Ketchikcan to tell them that we would be there 2 days early. Luckily I heard back quickly and they said it wasn’t an issue and they would see us on Monday at 745. Great!

We lounged around most of the day. I am sorry to say that we did NO ship activities today. Yes we are lame that way, but we enjoyed sitting around our cabin, napping, reading and watching tv. We watched 5 episodes of last season’s Criminal Minds that we had brought with us.

Lunch was fine. Crowded as usual in the Lido, but fine. I tried to go walking around 6pm because I was feeling like a sloth, but they had closed the decks midship on both sides! So I did two trips where I did the U-turn mid way, but I’m sure the people sitting at dinner weren’t completely thrilled with me walking back and forth in front of their windows 4 times, and it was frankly annoying, so I gave it up and came back upstairs.

Tonight we had reservations in the Pinnacle at 8. That was the only time they really had left. It was fine. We usually don’t eat that late, but my dad does. It was formal night so we all gussied up and went to the PG. Food was great as usual. No kids menu for me tonight. I had a Caesar salad and the Filet Diane Steak. Yum. I also had the volcano cake for desert. I wasn’t going to get desert as it was now 10pm, and I knew I was just going to go up the room and sleep, but the lady who took our desert order MADE me get it! Lol I told her that didn’t want desert and she asked “Even the volcano cake?” and I told her how when I had it on the Zaandam in Nov it was gross. Made with like a “rose” flour or something and wasn’t at all like I remembered. She swore that it wasn’t like that here. So I trusted her and got it. When she brought it she made me try it while she was standing there. The whole thing was funny, but she was right and it was delicious!

We have made reservations for 2 more nights in the PG for the rest of the cruise.

I didn't take many pictures today, sorry!! I will post more for tomorrow for sure when we are in Ketchikan!

me and my dad before dinner

There is nothing on that side bar at all. They only have the circle thing in the middle that has food on it, and it's very "fancy" food, nothing that I would really like...ya know? But then again, remember that I have taste buds like an 8 year old! HA! I will take a pic and post later.

Yes the chocolate seduction shop is on either deck 3 or 4 tucked away somewhere. Sells hot chocolate and chocolate drinks with alcohol in them. But again wen I asked about the PB and chocolate drink the lady said they only had chocolate and not any of the fancy drinks.

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And some random pics...

(I told my dad to write up his thoughts, I don't have them, but will post them when he gets them to me/when I can).

I think these chairs look like swordfish, but of course they are ships...they are kinda ugly huh?

Statues lying down...ok, they aren't, They are upright and I am below them taking the picture looking up, but it's a cool angle huh?

The ship at Pier 91 in Seattle with the Star Princess next to us.

The bathroom

The menu from Chocolate Seduction. When we went by there today the lady said that the only thing they had was the "regular". Boring. What is the good of advertising a yummy peanut butter chocolate hot chocolate when they only have chocolate. Bummer.

We checked out the Neptune Lounge (I don’t remember the one last year having to use our key card to get into, but the one on this ship you have to). We made reservations for the Pinnacle Grill tomorrow night (Formal night) and for the open seating. We have never eaten at open seating before in all of our cruises. We have always gotten a table for 6 at the early dining, so it will be an experience. We made reservations for tonight at 715pm.

We saw a few dolphins while we were leaving Seattle. They weren’t jumping or anything fun, but they were there! Our first (and hopefully not last) wildlife viewing.

My dad’s story of the lifeboat drill is interesting. He was on the opposite of the ship from us on a different lifeboat. We tried to tell him what to expect. He doesn’t hear that well so we knew with all the people he would have a hard time hearing his room number called. He said he went to the back of the people and stood and he said that he never heard his room number called out and never heard anyone calling his name. He said that he kept waiting to hear his name over the loudspeaker. Who knows. He swears that he didn’t check in at all. Interesting. Maybe one of the people taking roll call recognized him somehow?

Us before the life boat drill

Life boat drill crowds.

The weirdest thing happened to us tonight…never in my life has this happened before. When we were in the hotel this morning we were walking towards the elevator and we heard someone sneeze inside their room (their door was shut). They just happened to sneeze as we were walking by. We laughed and said “Bless you”. Then tonight while walking back to the room after buying Internet minutes we passed one room and someone sneezed. Amazing! Twice in one day that happened to us. Then about 40 rooms down it happened AGAIN! That was three times in one day that we just happened to be walking by a closed door to someone’s room when they sneezed! Weird!

So we went down for dinner and there was a line. We got in the line and waited for about 5 minutes and we didn’t get very far. I started to wonder….so I took a walk to the front of the line and realized that there were TWO lines. One for people who had made reservations and one for those people that were “dropping in”. So we got out of line and went to the side that had no line…NICE! We got a nice table with just us. Service was a bit slower and I have to admit that I like having the dining room stewards. Makes the whole experience more “fun” somehow.

So as I have mentioned before, I have 8 year old taste buds, so I asked for a kids menu. When they guy brought it to me he didn’t even pause when he handed it to me and asked with a straight face “Would you like a crayon with that menu?” ha! I laughed hard and he cracked a smile. Funny. I ordered mac and cheese while my dad got prime rib and hubby got the salmon. My dad liked the meat (thank goodness). He also got red velvet cake for desert but said that it was a bit dry (it LOOKED dry!)

We walked to the casino and checked out the poker tournament. Dad wasn’t impressed with the electronic poker, but we might be able to get him to try at some point during the cruise. We will see. He said that if he was going to play with the cards on a tablet (electronically) he might as well play on his computer up in his room. Lol.

We checked out the animal that dad got on his bed….looked like a worm with eyes? Lol We had a crab. The chocolates on our bed were “plain” as others have said, but ya know what? They tasted yummy as usual! We made plans to meet at 830 in the morning for breakfast. Hubby tracked the boat with our GPS and his mapping software and we hit the hay. Getting up at 5 in the morning is tiring! Lol

Yes I ordered from the kids menu tonight. I have the mac and cheese. Yum!

me and hubby on the balcony

The view from our room.

Our room--7151

Our balcony with my dad and hubby

We went up and ate lunch right away in the Lido because we knew the later it got the more crowded it would get. We found a seat right away and had a nice lunch (except the ranch dressing is yucky. I think it’s the fat-free type so it’s gross. Hopefully when they stop serving us they will bring the full on fat ranch back. It’s much better).

We then gave my dad a tour of the ship. We started at the top and worked our way down. He was sad that there was no “real” poker tables. He said that he won’t play “electronic” poker. He’s afraid that the computer will “cheat”. He did show some interest in playing in a texas hold ‘em poker tournament tonight, and I saw that there are 3 tournaments tomorrow. I’m sure he will play a game or two while he’s here. :)

We saw this on our tour. Loved it! It's called "The Bait"

Saturday-SHIP TIME!

I woke up way too early this morning, I guess because my body was still on Texas time, but it allowed me to get up and grade some papers for my online class that I teach as well as to just chill. I also took the time to take a long bath in the HUGE tub in the suite that we were in. Nice!

We also took a walk up to Safeway to get some last minute items. It was a nice walk, not too hot, not too cold and it wasn’t raining. Only came across two homeless people, one sleeping in a doorway and the other begging for money when we came out of Safeway.

We also took the time to grab two geocaches while we were out and about. One was at the Holland America building we visited yesterday when we met Lori. I didn’t know that it was there yesterday! It’s hidden on the big Veendam anchor outside the building.

This is me and hubby hear the anchor where the geocache was.

And here is a picture of the TINY geocache that is under the anchor...see it?

We then met my dad for breakfast at the hotel and then had some time to kill before we left for the ship. I took a nap. :) Gotta love being on vacation.

We took a taxi to the ship at pier 91. My dad had no idea there WAS a pier 91, which made me laugh because he was flabbergasted that he didn’t know there was a pier 91! It cost about $12 from the hotel, with tip. Not too bad and at the very least it was convenient. We left the hotel around 1130 and got to the pier around 1145-1150am. It was pretty crazy, but the lines moved pretty quickly. We overheard one of the pier workers telling a cruiser “Sir, I’m not allowed to argue with the passengers, but they will not let you drop off your bag without a luggage tag”. Lol. At least he was being honest. We dropped off our bags (we didn’t drop off the 12 pack of coke like we could last year in San Diego, we just carried it on ourselves).

We got through security, my dad almost left his ticket and passport at security. WHOOPS! Luckily he was slow in getting himself repacked after going through security and was still standing there when they started asking if everyone had their passport (um….why didn’t they LOOK at the picture/name to see who’s it was rather than yelling out if someone left it? Lol)

There weren’t too many people there yet. The longest line was for the non-Americans for checkin. We went to the line and asked the lady if there was a “suite” line checkin, she asked what kind of suite. I didn’t take offense because a lot of rooms are called suites now a days. We were able to go to the special suite check in line, and went right up to the counter (although honestly we probably would have done the same with the “regular” line). Had no issues checking in and we headed to the ship right afterwards. They had just started letting people on so we didn’t even have to wait in the lobby.

We found the rooms and hopefully my dad was suitably impressed with his. The room is smaller than our Neptune Suite room last year on our cruise to Hawaii. We had a room in the “middle” of the ship near the Neptune Lounge. But of course the balcony is huge and a wrap around. We didn’t bring the power strip and we should have. There are only like 3 plugs in the entire room.

Neptune Lounge

My dad's balcony (7142)

Reports will come later, but we just heard that we will be totally changing our schedule because of weather. We will be going to Keetchikan tomorrow (Monday) instead of Juneau. Then Glacier Bay, then skipping Sitka, then Juneau. I guess it IS just about winter up here. I heard that in 2011 and 2012 the last 2 cruises in Sept had to skip Sitka as well so it's not totally surprising. Oh well, at least I'm on vacation right?!? lol

More later...